International Fan Festival (IFF) is the biggest anime event in Canada which celebrates anime and Japanese culture. This year, IFF made its way to the birthplace of anime, Japan! International Fan Festival Osaka 2018 (IFF Osaka)took place At Grand Cube Osaka (Osaka International Convention Center) on 6 & 7 October 2018.

The festival provides participants opportunities to get closer to their heroes in anime, music, comics, games and novels as well as to voice actors. The star-studded guest list this year included voice actors who are popular in and out of Japan: Tomokazu Seki, Katsuyuki Konishi, Kana Ueda, Shizuka Ito, Ayako Kawasumi, Ami Koshimizu, Mikako Takahashi and Fumie Mizusawa.

The festival also offered various events which anime fans could actively participate in over the two days, including ‘Photo Sessions’ where fans could take group photos with voice actors, ‘Live Recordings’ where sound directors and voice actors demonstrate recording in sync with animation, and ‘Q&A Talk Show’ where guests answer fans’ questions sent to the website or collected at the venue.

To celebrate the launch of IFF in Japan, our friends over at ‘Anime! Anime!’ conducted an email interview series with the guest voice actors prior to the event. In its third installment, Ami Koshimizu and Mikako Takahashi talk about the differences between fans in Japan and overseas, popular characters abroad and their enthusiasm for the festival.

Ami Koshimizu Interview

’IFF Osaka’ is planned by a Canadian company and is the first reverse-imported anime event in Japan. Are you interested in anime events from around the world? Also, could you share with us your enthusiasm for participating an anime event with a new concept like IFF Osaka?

I love overseas anime events. I feel happy to hear about anime works which have borderless popularity. I’d love to participate in overseas anime events, but right now I’m not really able to stay away from home, so I’m really glad to be involved in the festival.

You have taken part in overseas anime events before. What did you think of the enthusiasm of the fans there? Do you also think there are many differences between anime fans in and out of Japan?

I felt like we didn’t need words to communicate and thought borders didn’t mean anything for something we are passionate about. I always felt happy at events abroad. I felt like I was on stage at a rock festival because fans went crazy even for a talk show!

A live recording event will be held at IFF Osaka. Have you ever done recordings in front of fans overseas?

As far as I can remember, I’ve only done live recordings in Japan! I already feel excited about how non-Japanese fans will react!

You have portrayed many popular anime characters. Who is the most popular character with overseas fans, and what do you think is the reason?

Among many, Ryuko Matori from Kill la Kill is the most popular. I remember that Nadja from Ashita no Nadja and Holo from Spice and Wolf had many fans, too. Yang Xiao Long from RWBY, who I dubbed for the Japanese version, is popular overseas right now!

Please give a message to your fans who are eagerly awaiting the festival.

Although I still haven’t gotten the whole picture yet, as it’s a foreign event taking place in Osaka, I’m looking forward to meeting you all at the venue and having fun together at the festival!